Mobile computing devices (or simply mobile devices), such as smart-phones and tablets, may be used to run a number of mobile software applications, also known as (mobile) apps. The apps may be of different types; particularly, the usefulness of some apps is strictly linked to specific locations (for example, apps providing time tables at bus/train stations, visiting guides at museums, shopping offers at malls).
However, users of the mobile devices may be unaware of the availability of apps designed to help them at their current positions. In any case, the operations required to find, download and install these apps are time consuming and bothersome; moreover, sometimes the apps are to be downloaded in advance (for example, when an inexpensive network connection is not available locally).
Several techniques have been proposed to facilitate the automatic installation/removal of apps depending on the positions of the mobile devices.
For example, US-A-2013/0210404 (the entire disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference) discloses a system comprising a wireless access device operatively coupled to an application server system deployed at a location associated with an entity; the application server and the wireless access device cooperate to wirelessly download a temporary application to a mobile device when it is located within an application support area of the entity, which temporary application is configured to be installed and executed at the mobile device when it is located within the application support area and to be automatically disabled or uninstalled from the mobile device when the mobile device leaves the application support area.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,588,819 (the entire disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference) discloses a mobile device that obtains a list of applications associated with a current or anticipated location of the mobile device from a centralized or distributed application; the mobile device activates desired applications that are selected either manually or automatically from the list associated with the location of the mobile device, which desired applications may be deactivated once one or more deactivation criteria are satisfied.
US-A-2013/0304628 (the entire disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference) discloses a system that receives data referencing a location of a mobile device, selects applications that are relevant to the location, and provides a recommendation to the mobile device identifying these applications.
US-A-2010/0120450 (the entire disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference) discloses communicating location information associated with a mobile device to a server; content identified by the server (including an application associated with the location information) is received at the device, and it is displayed on the device only while the device is at or near a particular location identified by the location information.
WO-A-2013/025382 (the entire disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference) discloses an architecture wherein, given a location registered to a service, the service may suggest installing a new application relevant to the location onto application-driven devices (e.g., cell phones).
EP-B-2186305 (the entire disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference) discloses a portable electronic device that determines a current position thereof and provides it to a server; the portable electronic device then receives a link to an application from the server responsive to the provided current position and downloads it if the current position of the portable electronic device is within an associated region.
However, the installation of the apps on the mobile devices according to their positions may involve security, privacy and performance concerns.
Particularly, the installation of each app generally requires that users of the mobile devices should explicitly authorize the app to access specific resources of the mobile devices (such as system configurations and personal data); this operation may be bothersome for the users and prone to errors, especially when it has to be performed continually (with the risk of causing corresponding privacy or security exposures).
Similar considerations apply to the remote transmission of contextual information of the mobile devices (for example, their positions and characteristics) to central systems that select the apps to be installed thereon; indeed, this exposes the mobile devices to the risk of sniffing of the corresponding contextual information.
In addition, the installation of the apps on the mobile devices according to their positions may cause an overload thereof, with a degradation of the other functionalities of the mobile devices.
Likewise, the continual transmission of the contextual information of the mobile devices to the central systems increases a power consumption of the mobile devices (thereby reducing their battery life), and it increase a workload of the central systems and a traffic on corresponding communication networks (with a risk of congestions thereof).